Warner Archive: “The Golden Arrow” on Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

THE GOLDEN ARROW (1962)
NEW 2019 1080p HD MASTER
Run Time 91:00
Subtitles English SDH
Sound Quality DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 – English
Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, 16 X 9 LETTERBOX
Product Color COLOR
Disc Configuration BD 25
Bandit chief Hassan (Tab Hunter) infiltrates Damascus with a daring plan. Impersonating a prince from the “Island of Flames,” Hassan joins the nobles contending for the hand of beautiful Princess Jamila (Rossana Podesta) intending to kidnap her for ransom. The suitors’ contest revolves around the legendary Black Bow, the weapon of the true savior and Sultan of Damascus. Whoever can bend the bow will wield the invincible power of the Golden Arrow, claim the hand of Jamila and become ruler. No one is more astonished than Hassan when he succeeds in bending the Black Bow, but the brash young thief ignores the call to heroism, kidnaps the princess and loses the Golden Arrow. With the aid of three magical spirits, Hassan must embark on a quest to recover it, contending with...

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[Robert Crawford]

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[Robert Crawford]

I don't even remember this film. Has anybody seen this film?

 

[Robert Crawford]

According to Wikipedia it's an Italian film "L'Arciere delle Mille e Una Notte".

 

[Mike2001]

I've never heard of it. It didn't make the Maltin guide.

Here is a quote from Tab Hunter that I got from Wikipedia:

Not being able to speak Italian wasn't a drawback. The script of La Freccia d'Oro - my copy was the only one in English - featured page after page of truly horrendous dialogue... All I could think of was Tony Curtis in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951): "Yonda lies da castle of my fadda." I spend every night in my hotel, rewriting my lines so I'd at least have fun delivering them. I camped it up shamelessly. Not that it mattered - all my dialogue was eventually dubbed by a stiff-as-a-board Italian baritone with no sense of humor. I ended up sounding like Rossano Brazzi. Disappointment over being stuck in a stinker was eased considerably by weekly infusions of cash, delivered personally by the production manager. I'd sign a voucher and he'd hand over a bundle of lire, some of the old notes as big as place mats.[5]

 

[RICK BOND]

Helen of Troy should have been released ! : ( ? ..The Golden Arrow ? Never heard of it. I'm sure this was a Bomb. Tab Hunter ? Oh Boy !

 

[Alan Tully]

The Golden Arrow ??

I keep reading that Warner aren't releasing a lot of the titles that come up on the various wants lists because they need to sell enough copies to make a profit, or at least not to make too much of a loss. This should be a winner for them, & no, I've never heard of it either.

 

[redhotandbluetechnicolor]

Let's hope that profits from this can fuel some restorations on some great classics. I'm happy for all of those people who enjoy this film though. In Technicolor and Technirama, it should look beautiful.

 

[Douglas R]

I've never heard of it either. Obviously somebody at Warner likes it!

 

[Thomas T]

I've never seen it but as a lover of Italian peplum, I've always wanted to and now I finally get to and in HD too! More Rosanna Podesta on blu ray is a good thing. But I have to confess when I first saw the thread heading I thought it was referring to the Bette Davis film with the same title.

 

[Ken_Martinez]

Baffled by this. Who's the target audience for this? Who's going to buy this in enough copies for it to be profitable?

 

[Alan Tully]

Yup, there's another Rossana Podesta 1956 costume epic I'd have preferred, & more importantly, would have bought.

 

[Arthur Powell]

Like so many others, I've never heard of the film, and its release is a bit of a head-scratcher. Yet the description is so goofy I'm sort of intrigued. Depending on the reviews, I might consider this during the 4 for $44 sale.

 

[Thomas T]

Baffled by this. Who's the target audience for this? Who's going to buy this in enough copies for it to be profitable?

Me, for one! Genre films (sci-fi, horror, blaxploitation, peplum) have an enormous fan base. Which is why the Warners Archives regularly release blu rays of titles like The Green Slime, The Cyclops, Cleopatra Jones, Colossus Of Rhodes etc. I'm sure Warners spent very little (if any) money restoring The Golden Arrow and they had a nice transfer ready to go (more or less), so why not? I'd love Helen Of Troy too but clearly there are issues with the quality of the existing transfer that needs extensive (and expensive) clean up or else they would have released it on blu by now.

Whenever the Archives releases some "B" film instead of some Joan Crawford or Errol Flynn "classic", there's always a plethora of indignant "Why XYZ and not ABC?" posts. Fans of Hollywood's so called "golden age" can't seem to grasp that not everyone is enthralled with Technicolor musicals or Joan Crawford melodramas. If The Green Slime, Cleopatra Jones and The Golden Arrow can fund another Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, The Sea Hawk, The Sea Wolf or Bells Are Ringing then bring them on I say!

 

[Alan Tully]

Well I dunno, I can't see The Golden Arrow funding anything, & what elements are they working from? I hope it looks better than The Colossus Of Rhodes. Oh well, the wait goes on for the first 2018 WAC that I want to buy.

...the two Shaft films might earn Warner a few bob. But I wasn't even that impressed with the first one. Richard Roundtree was great, as was the score, but I thought it was a very clumsily made film, almost amateur.

 

[Mark-P]

I don't even remember this film. Has anybody seen this film?

Yes, I watched it on TCM a while back. It is absolutely Tab Hunter's worst movie. I imagine there are cult fans, but it is laughably bad.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Well I dunno, I can't see The Golden Arrow funding anything, & what elements are they working from? I hope it looks better than The Colossus Of Rhodes. Oh well, the wait goes on for the first 2018 WAC that I want to buy.

It will probably be on par with Colossus and as mentioned probably cost next to nothing for them to put out, add in cult films sell and it will definitely make a decent profit and be able to fund something else. The same was said when Colossus was released but it obviously made money or they would not be releasing this title.
Helen of Troy recently aired on TCM and looks horrible as does the DVD. This would be an extremely expense project to release and not likely to sell many more copies than Colossus or The Golden Arrow which would more than likely make it a money loser which is why we are not seeing it right now. WAC may consider it in the future.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I'm curious to hear what they'll say about it on the Podcast.

 

[Ed Lachmann]

I'm the target audience as well and will definitely be picking this up. I love epic historical adventures and this is one I'm unfamiliar with, but it's a good sign from WB. Like others, I'd go crazy over Helen of Troy, Land of the Pharaohs, the Mankiewicz Julius Caesar, Ivanhoe, Scaramouche and countless others, but WB seems to have put them on the "back burner" when they should be putting them on one of the the 4K scanners they have laying around gathering dust. They obviously did that with Raintree County (and not much more), but it looked fabulous in HD on BBC Movie Night nonetheless. Still no Archive release, why not? Funny they pick the most obscure stuff to release in HD and ignore the legends, but cheapo cult stuff must sell. Personally don't get it, but I will get The Golden Arrow and probably really enjoy it.

 

[Thomas T]

I'm the target audience as well and will definitely be picking this up. I love epic historical adventures and this is one I'm surprisingly unfamiliar with, but it's a good sign from WB. Likes others, I'd go crazy over Helen of Troy, Land of the Pharaohs, the Mankiewicz Julius Caesar, Ivanhoe, Scaramouche and countless others, but WB seems to have put them on the "back burner" when they should be putting them on one of the the 4K scanners they have laying around gathering dust.

I stand to be corrected but I assume that titles like Troy, Pharaohs, Caesar, Ivanhoe and Scaramouche (which I'd all buy in a heartbeat) need restoration work on existing transfers. God knows if Warners released them on blu ray in less than pristine stellar transfers, the films' fans would be howling! Warners seems to take pride on the quality of their blu ray transfers and if they're not ready, they're not ready. Maybe I'm too optimistic but I would like to think all the aforementioned films are on the back burner for a reason and when they're ready, they'll be out. Patience doesn't seem to be a virtue among some HTFers